SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced that it has implemented the new SATA µSSD specification into its SanDisk iSSD product line of postage stamp-sized embedded SSDs. SATA-IO, an industry consortium dedicated to sustaining the quality, integrity and dissemination of serial ATA (SATA) technology, introduced the standard today.

The number of media tablets shipped worldwide is expected to grow from 17.8 million units in 2010 to 53.5 million units in 2011. The five-year CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) is 48.5 percent, according to the IDC 1Q11 Media Tablet and eReader Tracker Forecast. These thin, high-performance mobile computing platforms combine sophisticated components in a small physical area, compounding design complexity and driving the need for industry standards.

The Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO), the industry consortium dedicated to sustaining the quality, integrity and dissemination of Serial ATA (SATA) technology, today announced it is developing SATA Express, a new specification that combines SATA software infrastructure with the PCI Express (PCIe) interface. SATA Express enables the development of new devices that utilize the PCIe interface and maintain compatibility with existing SATA applications. The technology will provide a cost-effective means to increase device interface speeds to 8Gb/s and 16Gb/s.

Solid state (SSDs) and hybrid drives are already pushing the limits of existing storage interfaces. SATA Express will provide a low-cost solution to fully utilize the performance of these devices. Storage devices not requiring the speed of SATA Express will continue to be served by existing SATA technology. The specification will define new device and motherboard connectors that will support both new SATA Express and current SATA devices.

Until recently, conventional wisdom stated that SLC-based (single level cell) solid state drives (SSDs) were the only drives suitable for demanding Tier 0 Enterprise applications. That has changed with the introduction of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies' (Hitachi GST) new Ultrastar SSD400M MLC (multi level cell) SSD family. As a cost-effective alternative to SLC SSDs, Hitachi GST's Enterprise MLC SSDs are the most advanced in the industry, utilizing Intel's 25 nanometer (nm), highest endurance Enterprise-grade, MLC NAND Flash and delivering outstanding performance. Couple this with Hitachi GST's known quality and reliability, and the result is a compelling Enterprise-class MLC SSD that meets the performance, capacity, endurance and reliability demands of today's Enterprise and Cloud data centers. Targeting Enterprise capacity sweet spots, the Ultrastar SSD400M family is available in a 2.5-inch form factor with a 6Gb SAS interface in capacities of 200GB and 400GB.

In order to satisfy the new generation's need for extreme speed, the world's leading memory storage product brand Team Group Inc. released the first generation 2.5 inch SATA III SSD to firmly display their ambition to grab market share. SSD S3 uses the high standard SATA3 6Gb/s interface, and is equipped the enthusiast level SandForce controller as the core helmsman; when compared to the previous generation SATA 2, not only does it maintain Team Group's consistent high standard product stability and security, it also comprehensively increases the reading and writing speed, leading SSD's super efficiency towards a new revolutionary realm.

Data storage veteran TDK announced the GBDriver RS3 series solid state drives (SSDs) for use in embedded devices, tablets, and thin-clients. It includes low-capacity single-level cell (SLC) SSDs, available in 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB sizes; and mainstream capacitity multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash SSDs in sizes of 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB, and 128 GB. The SLC models provide transfer rates of 160 MB/s read and 60 MB/s write; while the MLCs ones read/write at 160/25 MB/s. All drives use SATA 3 Gb/s interface. The GBDriver RS3 series features an in-house SSD controller made by TDK, that provides automatic 128-bit AES data encryption, Static Wear Leveling functions, and SMART. The drives offer 500,000 hours of MTBF, and make use of aluminum casings. TDK is expected to ship the drives in late September.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced the release of Z-Drive Revision 4 (R4) PCI Express (PCIe) storage solutions designed to dramatically accelerate enterprise applications and significantly reduce total cost of ownership in the data center. The Z-Drive R4 product line features OCZ's second generation proprietary Virtualized Controller Architecture (VCA) 2.0, providing the utmost in performance, flexibility, durability and enhanced reliability features, allowing data centers, for the first time, to rely on a PCIe-based SSD as their primary tier one storage solution.

"Objective Analysis forecasts that the PCIe interface will become dominant in the enterprise SSD market in 2012, with unit shipments greater than the combined shipments of its SAS and Fibre Channel counterparts," said SSD analyst Jim Handy of Objective Analysis. "This is because the PCIe interface puts less drag on the NAND-to-processor communication channel than do standard HDD interfaces. By 2015, Objective Analysis expects well over two million PCIe SSDs to ship, a number larger than all of the SATA SSDs that shipped in 2010."

Thermaltake Technology, a leading computer components and power solutions brand, is more than ever committed to create a uniquely innovative and adventurous enthusiasm of been "committed to creating the perfect User experience". The New Thermaltake Dr. Power II Universal Digital Power Supply Tester designs for DIY enthusiast and PC gamers with a builder-friendly philosophy to enable you to test and diagnose the power supply's condition before damage occurs. Further impressive features of the new Dr. Power II Universal Digital Power Supply Tester included oversized LCD panel that accurately shows the value of each specific power rails and sets the latest standard in fast, easy and accurate PSU Tester. With the innovative design and unique style, the Dr. Power II Universal Digital Power Supply Tester evokes the next-generation legendry and is the number one choice for PC DIY enthusiasts worldwide.

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is shipping the HyperX SSD, its first SATA Rev. 3.0 6Gb/s solid-state drive. The Kingston HyperX SSD features the latest SandForce controller and is designed for enthusiasts, gamers and performance users.

Verbatim's Store 'n' Go USB 3.0 portable hard drive has been released in two new liveries to keep up with the summer shopping season. The 500 GB hard drive is now available in Hot Pink and Caribbean Blue, two metallic (non-chrome, matte) color options. The new generation Store 'n' Go eliminates interface bottleneck of USB 2.0, and can run its hard drive as if it were running over eSATA or fixed internally, when used with USB 3.0 compatible PCs. It is, however, backwards-compatible with older versions of the USB interface. The Green Button software allows you to save energy by spinning down the drive when it's idle. The bundled Nero BackItUp and Nero Burn Essentials software allow you to schedule backups, keep data synced, or burn data to optical media using an installed optical disk burner. Backed by a huge 7-year warranty, Verbatim's Store 'n' Go USB 3.0 Hot Pink and Caribbean Blue portable hard drives are priced at US $99.

Fujitsu introduces a new notebook that tackles the trade-off between functionality and price, combining both in a package starting at under EUR 500. An ideal "back to school" notebook, the 33.8 cm (13.3-inch) Fujitsu LIFEBOOK SH531 notebook weighs only 1.9 kg, yet does not compromise on features, performance or energy efficiency.

Available across the CEMEA&I region via Fujitsu resellers, the slimline LIFEBOOK SH531 checks all the "must have" boxes for students choosing a studying companion, with features such as anti-glare display for outside working, a Computrace-enabled BIOS allowing the notebook to be tracked remotely if lost or stolen, software and hard drive locks, and even a spill-proof keyboard.

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, announced today it has expanded the new Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini bus powered (no AC adapter needed) portable hardware RAID storage solution with two new hard drive and three new OWC SSD based models. Now offering 10 pre-configured choices with hardware RAID-1 "mirrored" redundancy for "live activity" data protection; or RAID-0 "stripe" for maximum performance capacity, the Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini contains two 2.5" hard drives or OWC Mercury Electra 6G SSDs for up to 2.0TB of capacity and a "Quad Interface" of FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0, & eSATA connections for Plug and Play data transfer speeds up to 300MB/s with Mac and PC computers.

Buffalo announced the LinkStation WSX2.0TL/R1, a compact NAS server that makes use of two 1 TB 2.5-inch SATA hard drives in RAID 0 to offer 2 TB of storage space in a fast volume. You can reconfigure the drives to different RAID modes, or make them work as standalone volumes, as well. Measuring 40 x 82 x 135 mm, the LinkStation WSX2.0TL/R1 uses common 1 Gb/s Ethernet to connect to the network, and USB 2.0 to take in additional storage devices that follow the USB Mass Storage code. It is fully DLNA compliant, making it compatible with a variety of networked devices apart from computers. It can act as an iTunes server, as well as a Bittorrent download box. Data backup software is included. It is available in piano black and pearl white options. Slated for a mid-August launch in Japan, it is priced at US $450.

Leading memory storage brand, SP/Silicon Power today announces the launch of its first SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD), the Velox Series V30. Continuing the efficiency and stability of the V20, the V30 employs the highest spec SATA 6 Gbps interface on the market, while remaining backwards compatible with the SATA II Gbps interface. Running at over double the efficiency of the SATA 3 Gbps interface, the V30 is a top level product that can meet the needs of computer gamers and professional computer users alike.

The SP/Silicon Power V30 SSD uses a SandForce controller chip, enabling it to reach a top read speed of 550 MB/s, and top write speed of 500 MB/s. It also supports TRIM command and Garbage Collection technology, resolving the issue of decreased efficiency in SSDs used for long periods of time.

SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today introduced the SanDisk Ultra solid state drive (SSD) for the retail market. The new SSD can extend the life of desktop and notebook PCs, and offers greater performance, durability and power efficiency than a hard disk drive.

The SanDisk Ultra SSD is a convenient drop-in solution for technology enthusiasts looking to upgrade their own PCs for an enhanced user experience. The new SSD features: Fast Performance, Power Efficiency, and Long-term Reliability.

SilverStone introduced the SD01 Hard Drive stackable "pad", with is an open "enclosure with just a pad to place the drive, an arm to hold it in place, and power/data connection to the host. The SD01 supports SATA and SAS, both with up to 6 Gb/s data-rate. It can hold 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch drives. Measuring 195 (L) x 121.5 (W) x 31.5 (H) mm, and weighing in at 180 g, the SD01 connects to the host over eSATA and SAS, but data-rate is subject to the host supporting it. In essence, the device is merely a dumb relay between the host and the drive, it's just that it has its own 12V DC power input, which it conditions to power the drive. The SilverStone SD01 is priced at €29.90.

Gigabyte introduced A2 Tiny, a tiny version of the A2 portable hard drive series. Measuring just 78 x 59 x 13 mm (D x W x H), the A2 Tiny houses a 1.8-inch SATA hard drive, the original A2 packed a 2.5-inch drive. Its compact size and its 80 g weight makes it extremely portable. The A2 Tiny comes in just one capacity for now, 160 GB. It uses USB 2.0 interface for power and data transfer. Its enclosure packs a shock-absorbing mechanism to protect the delicate hard drive, although the company didn't give out a shock resistance figure. It is available in just one color option, Charcoal Gray. Along with its USB cable, the package includes a carrying pouch. Gigabyte didn't give out pricing or availability information.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today unveiled the Indilinx Everest SATA 3.0 SSD platform. The Everest platform features support of 6Gbps interface speeds, high transactional performance that is optimized for compressed files, and maximum capacities up to 1TB.

"The new Indilinx Everest platform is a complete customizable solution that delivers superior storage performance, features, and capabilities designed to exceed the needs of the most demanding SSD applications," said Bumsoo Kim, President of Indilinx. "Combining a 6Gbps SATA Revision 3.0 host interface, a dual-core CPU, and support for the latest, most advanced NAND Flash memory technology available, Everest offers SSD manufacturers unparallel flexibility in optimizing their designs for both performance and cost."

The Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO), the industry consortium dedicated to sustaining the quality, integrity and dissemination of Serial ATA (SATA) technology, today announced the completion of its Revision 3.1 Specification. This latest specification update includes design requirements for the SATA Universal Storage Module (USM) for portable storage applications, along with a series of enhancements for added functionality and convenience. The features included in SATA Revision 3.1 continue to extend the speed and reliability of SATA technology to a wide variety of device segments, including consumer electronics and small form factor devices.

First introduced in January 2011, USM enables removable and expandable storage solutions for consumer electronics devices. Using USM developers can incorporate slots into televisions, game consoles, set-top boxes, computers, docking stations and other consumer electronic devices that will accept powered, cable-free storage modules with integrated powered SATA interfaces for expanding storage capacity. USM provides an easy means for developers to implement SATA technology in a wide range of consumer electronics devices, and is the first standard specification to define slots for these types of products to accept complete, powered external storage devices. It also is one of several SATA-IO initiatives designed to extend SATA technology beyond traditional PC storage.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced their new MasterDrive KX3, a 1.8" SSD for the emerging notebook and tablet markets.

As laptops get thinner and lighter, the demand for smaller, thinner components follows suit. The fact that this product is also silent, more rugged, has better performance and better battery life only adds to the allure of the mobile SSDs.

Close to two years after releasing the Brick 2.5-inch drive enclosures, Enermax released an updated variant that makes use of USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface to eliminate any drive to host bottlenecks. Measuring 120 x 77 x 15.5 mm, the Enermax Brick comes in a slate black color, with brushed metal finish. It can house hard drives and solid-state drives in the 2.5-inch SATA form-factor. The enclosure relies on the single USB 3.0 cable for both connectivity and power. The Enermax Brick USB 3.0 is priced €5 higher than its much older USB 2.0 cousins, at €20.

Seagate today began distribution channel shipments of the Pulsar XT.2 solid state drive (SSD) that combines outstanding and consistent performance with the data integrity and drive endurance needed for the most demanding enterprise environments, and is on track to commence channel shipments of the Pulsar.2 SSD, the first Multi-Level Cell (MLC) Flash-enabled SSD from an enterprise hard drive maker, on July 29.

The Pulsar XT.2 SSD combines Single-Level Cell (SLC) flash with a native 6Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface to make it the fastest drive in the Seagate portfolio. The 2.5-inch SSD with up to 400GB of capacity is optimized for complex, mixed workloads typical of enterprise environments such as online transaction processing (OLTP), database or web indexing, and email.

Mach Xtreme Technology Inc., a worldwide leader in top performance, high reliability and user friendly designed PC components, today announced the 2.5" SATAIII MX-DS FUSION Series SSD for budget conscious enthusiasts. MX Technology releases the DS FUSION series adding up to its SATAIII line-up after the DS TURBO series. This series comes at a price point that is friendly to budget-conscious users.

Advanced high speed SATAIII interface has been implemented in newer systems to remove previous performance bottleneck. The MX-DS FUSION Series is perfect to take advantage of that higher speed interface offering unparalleled level of performance. This series delivers performance that maximizes the throughput of a SATA III 6Gb/s interface with balanced read/write speeds. It supports DuraClass and DuraWrite technologies. DuraClass technology provides best-in-class endurance, performance and low power consumption. DuraWrite technology optimizes writes to the flash memory over conventional controllers increasing the overall endurance and reliability of the complete SSD. Highly intelligent block management and wear leveling also extends the overall endurance. It maintains backwards compatibility with existing SATA II 3.0 Gb/s and SATA I 1.5 Gb/s interfaces.

Chinese memory enterprise flash memory expert RunCore released a trio of solid state drives (SSDs) in the mSATA form-factor, that includes the high end T50 with its 6 Gb/s interface, mid-range I50 and entry-level Lite series, both of which have 3 Gb/s interfaces. The T50 uses SandForce SF-2218 controller, and can provide transfer rates of up to 550 MB/s reads with 470 MB/s writes, with 4K random read and write performance of 60,000 and 35,000 IOPS, respectively. Despite its tiny form-factor, the RunCore T50 comes in capacities of 60 GB, 120 GB, 240 GB, and even 480 GB; priced at US $198, $358, respectively for the 60 GB and 120 GB variants, with the upper variants' price yet to be disclosed. This makes the RunCore T50 480 GB look like the ultimate mSATA SSD.

The I50, on the other hand, looks to be using SandForce SF-1200 controllers, with transfer rates of 280 MB/s read and 270 MB/s write, with 4K random read/write performance of 45,000 and 30,000 IOPS, respectively. The I50 is available in 60 GB and 120 GB capacities, priced at $178 and $380, respectively. The RunCore Lite runs on SandForce SF-2141, and and is a low-cost, low-capacity SSD for OEMs, which means that retail availability is uncertain. The 16 GB variant is priced at $28, and 32 GB one for $38. The mSATA form-factor is prevalent in embedded systems, ultra portable notebooks, certain media players, and even some consumer motherboards that support Intel's Smart Response technology.

Japanese cooling expert Scythe is expanding the product portfolio by new Kama Rack Series. Kama Rack Multi-Functional Panel allows the useful utilization of available 5,25 and 3,5 inch bays of the PC Chassis by adding many helpful new features to the front panel.

The idea behind the product is the hassle of frequent data-transfers as well as backups in the digital life. Saving, securing and moving of corporate and private data usually requiring several different devices to move or secure data from source A to media drive B. These media could be flash drives, memory cards, USB Drives as well as Hard Drives and Solid State Disks.

HighPoint Technologies, Inc., the industry's price-leading manufacturer of host-to-target storage controllers, is now shipping the RocketRAID 2782 32-port PCI-Express Gen 2 RAID HBA. With an MSRP of $849 US, the RocketRAID 2782 reduces costs by as much as 50% over comparable RAID HBA's.

No other manufacturer delivers high-density Host RAID storage solutions with 32-dedicated SAS 6Gb/s ports. Comparable HBA's only offer up to 24 ports, and require sacrificing one or more internal Mini-SAS ports in order to utilize the external connectors. The RR2782's defines no-compromise, high-connectivity - all 32 ports are available at all times, in any combination.